Operation: Alpha
by Vena.Tsukoyumi
Summary: Rumor has it that England's got a tattoo, and America is determined to see it.
1. Prologue

"And with that, this world conference is concluded!" Germany's deep voice boomed about the meeting hall. America stretched in his chair, breathing a sigh of relief. Ever since Germany had started heading the meetings instead of him, he'd been losing almost all interest in them. Though when he saw that a small group of nations had remained, it piqued his interest. He knew the look of the circle as a gossip group. And he, being America, needed to be in on all the latest gossip. He scooted his wheeled chair over, earning him a look from France.

"Hey, guys! What're you discussing so seriously over here?" he asked, smiling slightly. France grinned back, and America could tell that the info was juicy.

"Ah! Amérique!" he replied, his smile not faltering, "Just the person I wanted to see!" America shot him a confused look, but he continued. "I'm sure you'll find this..interesting." America listened closely. "You see Angleterre over there?" he motioned over to England, who was gathering up his notes from the meeting in a nice stack. America was getting impatient with the French man.

"Yes, yes! I see England over there! What about him?" he asked, earning him a laugh from France.

"Calm down! I was getting to it!" he laughed, "Well, rumor has it that our dear Angleterre has himself a tatouage somewhere!" Alfred stared at him blankly.

"England has a tatooag-wha? What is that exactly? Some sort of animal?" America asked, causing France to double over in laughter.

"Um, what France means is that England supposedly has some sort of tattoo," Canada explained, "though I don't believe it.." And America was tempted to agree with his brother. He glanced over at him, still fixing his notes, and he just didn't seem like the type of guy who would get one.

"Pfft. France, that's a load of bull," America replied, scoffing at the older nation, "There's no _way_ that he would have one! Not a stuffy old Brit like him!"

"But Amérique," France pointed out, "You can't forget about his punk rock era, or his old pirate days either." America took this into consideration, and realized that the idea might not seem so far-fetched after all. He watched England glance over at their small group before taking his leave of the meeting room. Their eyes caught for a moment and America could feel some weird emotion behind his eyes, but he shook it off as a hallucination. He turned back to their small group.

"Hey, uh, thanks for the info, but I should probably be headed home now," he pronounced rather suddenly. He had all sorts of thoughts racing about his head, all having to do with England and his possible tattoo. He got a look from France that there were more rumors to discuss, but he snatched his briefcase up off the meeting table and dashed from the meeting hall himself, almost running into England as he ran, earning him a "Watch where you're going you git!!".

France chuckled to himself as Japan cast a glance at him.

"France-san, don't you think you should have told him the other rumor first?" he questioned the other nation, "Such as the one regarding England-san's supposed feelings for-" France cut him off before he could finish, smiling again.

"Yes, I could have told him," he replied, glancing at the door where the other two had left, "But I have a feeling that our friend Amérique will find out for himself.."


	2. Chapter 1: The Plan

America flung himself onto his bed as soon as he reached his comfy little apartment once he had quickly returned from the meeting. He dug into his briefcase and pulled out some blank paper and a pen, seeing as he had never used any of it to take notes during the meeting anyways. He quickly scribbled a full body drawing of England onto one sheet, in his famed New York pop art style. On another sheet, he started working on a checklist, which was entitled: 'Places England Would Have a Tattoo'.

"Well, I at least know he doesn't have it on his hands, neck, or face anywhere," he mumbled, furiously scribbling those body parts off of his checklist. England pretty much always wore long sleeves and pants. Maybe he had something to hide underneath them? He circled arms on his checklist. "Well, I need to think of a name for this little plan of mine before I can start thinking up ideas.." Alfred chomped down on the end of his pen, deep in thought. He needed to think of a cool name. Without a cool name for his plan to find England's tattoo, it was sure to fail! After a few moments, his eyes lit up.

"I got it! From this point on, this will be Operation: Alpha!" he smiled triumphantly as he scribbled the name on the top of the checklist. _I'm such a genius!_ He thought as he wrote. Sure, it didn't have any relevance to the actual plan, but whenever one of those symbol letters like that was used for something, the coolness level went up at least tenfold!

"Now, I'm gonna have to get a good look at England to try and catch his tattoo in order for Operation: Alpha to be a success.." he murmured to himself as he glanced back to his checklist once more. He remembered he had circled 'Arms'. "Well, I'll try to get him to wear a T-shirt or something. Then I'll just have to inconspicuously examine his arms without drawing his attention," He mumbled, fumbling around for his cell phone. He knew not drawing attention to himself throughout the whole plan would be the most difficult part of Operation: Alpha. Once he had scavenged his phone from the bottom of his briefcase, he flipped it open and typed in a '1', the speed dial number for England. He loved speed dial numbers, and usually never called anyone who _wasn't_ on his speed dial list. The phone rang a few minutes, and just when Alfred thought there would be no answer, there was a voice on the other line.

"America..? What in the world do you need from me?" Arthur mumbled in his British accent, "If you'd had something to say to me, you should have said so at the meeting." And as usual, he sounded grumpy.

"Hey, England!" Alfred responded cheerily, and Arthur could just hear the smile through the phone, "Well, I know you and I never really talk as much as we used to, and I was wondering if maybe you'd have me over later?" There was a long pause on the other end. Alfred almost thought he had hung up on him, but he could still hear the other man breathing on the other end. "Uh..England? You o-" he started, but Arthur quickly spoke over him.

"Yes, you git! I'm perfectly fine!" he responded, his voice slightly high in pitch. Alfred was very confused. "Well, as you know, I'm staying at a hotel in town for the week because of our meetings," he continued, returning to his normal voice, "but I would much prefer if you weren't sticking your nose into my business, as you seem to love doing to people these days." Alfred wasn't the least bit surprised by his response. This was always how he acted whenever he wanted them to hang out. He sighed internally to himself.

"Come on, England! Please!"

"I already told you, git, I said no."

"Seriously! I'll even bring you tea or something if you let me come over for a while!"

A slight pause.

"..Earl Grey?"

"Yeah, sure! Whatever you want! So, is it a date or what?"

A startled noise on the other line.

"Wh-What did you just say..?"

"I said, '_So is it a date or what?'_." Alfred began to wonder if 'date' meant something else in British slang. England had sounded awfully surprised. Almost like the time he'd asked for a 'Rubber'.

"Y-Y-Yeah, sure.." once again, after another long pause. He sounded slightly nervous to Alfred. England never stuttered. "Wh-What time will I be expecting you?

"How about..around eight o'clock?"

"…S-Sure. I'll see you then."

And with that, Arthur hung up before Alfred even had a chance to say goodbye.

"Wonder what was up with him..?" he wondered to himself, before quickly snapping out of it. He glanced over at his clock, which read '6:30'. He quickly wandered over to his closet, yanking out a simple T-shirt with the American flag on it, his bomber jacket, and a pair of jeans. He soon stripped himself of his stuffy suit (Which he hated having to wear as often as he did), and changed his outfit. He felt much more comfortable now, and with that he shoved his phone into his pocket and went out the door.

He hopped into his large red SUV, and quickly drove off to the nearest Wal-Mart. His enormous vehicle took up almost two parking spaces, but he didn't seem to really care. He grabbed a shopping cart (even though he only needed a couple of items) and set out to scavenge the food and drink aisles for England's beloved Earl Grey.

"You'd think the tea section would be easier to find!" he complained, wheeling his cart around through the aisles. He walked past the coffee mixes, and paused there for a moment. _Well, since I'm here.. _He quickly plucked out several different cans of coffee blends and stuck them in the cart, grabbing some alternate flavorings as well. After he grabbed enough, he went through the beverage aisles about four more times before he realized that the tea section was almost directly adjacent to the coffee. It took him another ten minutes to glance through all of the flavors before finding the coveted Earl Grey. He smiled, plucked it out, and tossed it on top of his coffee supplies.

"And now, for the _other _reason I shopped here.." he mumbled to no one in particular, wheeling himself over into the men's clothing section. Now that he had his ticket to visit England, he needed to get back to Operation: Alpha. He wandered through boxer shorts and briefs, dodged around the socks, climbed over pants and shorts (Which he got yelled at for by an employee), until he reached his destination.

T-shirts.

"Now..which one should I get for England..?" he wondered to himself. He didn't think that there was anything weird about getting his friend random clothing, especially since the only thing he was currently thinking about was Operation: Alpha. He knew he'd have to get something the Brit would like, or there'd be no way he would wear it. He noticed an American flag one quite similar to his own, but he noted that England would probably burn that shirt before ever wearing it. Most other T-Shirts were very plain, or had funny sayings on them (Though Alfred assumed England wouldn't wear those either). Finally, something caught his eye.

The background of the shirt was faded blue, with familiar red and white stripes on the front. In small white letters on the back, "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was printed just below the collar. Alfred grabbed the smallest size and smiled to himself. "I'll just ask him to try it on to make sure it fits, and I'll be sure to check his arms when he does!" He folded the shirt back up and laid it gently on top of everything else. He quickly waltzed over to the self-checkout lane, which was always his favorite part of shopping at Wal-Mart.

He tossed his bag of coffee products into the back seat of his SUV, keeping the box of tea bags and the shirt in a bag up front with him. All of the countries had been given a list of where they were all staying in town in case of emergency, so Alfred easily maneuvered through traffic to England's hotel. He glanced at his clock, groaning when he noticed it said '8:27'. He had taken longer shopping than he had thought. He knew England was all about punctuality, so he hoped that the smaller nation wouldn't be too angry with him.

He grabbed the bag and took the elevator up to the fourth floor, where England was staying. He found room '438', and knocked loudly and obnoxiously. It was silent, so Alfred pressed his ear against the door. He thought he heard a slight rustling, and he fell through the doorway as Arthur opened the door. He fell against him, knocking the both of them down to the floor. Alfred had ended up on top of him, and Arthur's face was glowing cherry red beneath him.

"Y-Y-You're late, you git!" he complained, trying to shove the larger man off of him. Alfred laughed, quickly climbing up off of him before offering his hand down to the smaller one. He took it, and Alfred hoisted him up to his feet. He still smiled, because he didn't think he'd ever seen England look so flustered before. Then he noticed the slightly hurt look Arthur was giving him. What was that all about..? "Well?" he stated, as if waiting for something. Alfred looked at him sideways.

"Well what?" he asked, and England simply glared back at him.

"Don't 'well what?' me!" he exclaimed, impersonating Alfred as he quoted him, "Aren't you going to apologize for something..?"

"Oh! Uh, sorry for crushing you?" he offered, but the returned look said that wasn't what he should be apologizing for. It took him a moment to remember. "Er, I mean, listen, England, I'm really sorry about being late!" Alfred looked down at the ground sheepishly before reaching into the bag and pulling out the box of Earl Grey. "B-But I didn't forget what I promised! Here's your Earl Grey!" He smiled awkwardly as he held the box out to the Brit. He snatched it away from him, grumbling something unintelligible to himself.

"Well, if you're done trying to waste my time, then I _guess _you can come in," he mumbled coldly, turning to enter the small kitchen area of the room. He opened the box and began boiling water for his tea, and that's when Alfred had noticed what England was wearing. England seemed awfully dressed up for the occasion. He was wearing some sort of suit, but not the white one he wore to their meetings. This suit was deep black, and when England turned slightly, he noted that the look was completed with a fancy white undershirt and a red tie. _All I told him was that I wanted to come over. Unless this is just how he always dresses..? _It seemed so strange to him. He looked down at his own outfit, and he now felt entirely too casual for the occasion. _What am I thinking? This IS a casual occasion! He's the one who's dressed up! I'm not the one who's dressed down! Heck, it's not even an occasion! This is just us hanging out, and me trying to complete Operation: Alpha! _America watched the Brit finish boiling his water, and watched him pour it into a cup, adding a teabag afterwards. The clear water soon became muddy brown, almost black, and Arthur stirred it with a small spoon before taking a sip. He sighed refreshingly, turning back around.

"America..? Why in the bloody hell are you staring at me like that?" Alfred snapped out of his thoughts at the brazen comment, and he noticed that Arthur's face was still blazing brightly.

"U-Uh, I'm sorry! I was just daydreaming!" he lied, rubbing the back of his head jokingly. Arthur shot him a look that Alfred couldn't read, and he went to sit on one of the couches. Alfred quickly dashed over and sat next to him.

England sipped his tea silently, and Alfred just stared at the ground. Things had definitely not gotten off to a good start. After a few moments, Arthur lifted the TV remote from the small table next to the couch and turned to him. "M-Maybe we should turn on the Tellie or something.." he suggested, and Alfred nodded.

"Uh, sure! That sounds good!" he replied, as the other pressed the small red button in the upper corner of the remote. He flipped through the channels until he found the BBC network. Sighing with content, he made himself more comfortable in the chair. Alfred wanted to protest his taste in television, but after what they had just gone through he didn't want to upset his friend further. Arthur appeared to be finished with his cup of Earl Grey, because he set the teacup to rest on a small saucer on the small table next to them, along with the remote. Some sort of cooking show seemed to be on, and Arthur looked completely enthralled with it. Alfred couldn't help but smile.

_I've never seen him look so relaxed before. With him still slightly blushing, he seems kind of..cute._ Alfred's eyes widened and he almost slapped himself for thinking that. _What am I doing? I can't start thinking of England as cute! If he could read my thoughts, he'd probably be beating me over the head with his teacup for thinking that about him! B-But…he really does look- _his thoughts were abruptly interrupted as he felt something rest against his shoulder. He turned his head slightly and noticed it was Arthur. His eyes widened even more, and he felt his own light blush creeping to his cheeks. He was going to say something, but he figured it wouldn't be worth it. Having Arthur rest against him actually seemed kind of..nice. He smiled slightly to himself before his brain screamed at him again. _No! Don't go being happy about this! Remember the reason you came here in the first place, Alfred! Operation: Alpha! REMEMBER?! _He looked down at his hand, which was still clutching the plastic Wal-Mart bag.

He cleared his throat slightly, and England turned his head to look up at him. "Hm? What is it, Git?" he asked. America didn't notice he was still blushing slightly.

"Um, well, here," he said, still slightly flustered for his previous thoughts, holding the plastic bag out to him, "I..I got this for you too." Arthur took the bag from him, curiously peeking inside. His eyebrows raised in slight surprise as he pulled the shirt out.

"W-Wow..um…t-thanks," he managed, and Alfred noticed his face started turning red again. He still didn't get what was going on with him. He was looking at the shirt with that weird emotion he had seen back at the meeting hall. He still wasn't sure what exactly it was. "D-Do you mind if I t-try it on..?" America cheered inside, seeing as that's what he had wanted in the first place.

"Of course not! Go ahead!" he smiled, but he suddenly froze when Arthur began loosening his tie. "W-Wha..?" he whispered to himself, as England swiftly and nimbly undid the buttons of both his dressy jacket and his undershirt. _God his fingers are quick..! I wonder what else they could do…_ He wanted to smack his head against the wall. _Get your mind out of the gutter you fool!!_ As he set the clothes neatly on the couch, America glanced over his revealed torso. Nothing there. He noted in his mind to cross that off his list. Nothing on the shoulders. Cross it off. England slipped the T-Shirt on, though America still had time to notice there was nothing on his arms. Scribble them out.

"Well? How does it look?" he asked, snapping Alfred out of his thoughts yet again.

"O-Oh! I think it looks really good on you!" he replied, smiling his trademark smile. "You should wear less formal stuff like that more often. It makes you seem more your age, you know?"

England's face was heating up again. "M-Mmm..I see…" he murmured to himself. Alfred glanced off to the side, noting the time. He swiftly stood up.

"Oh! Well! Would you look at the time!" he exclaimed more high pitched then he had wanted to sound, "Well, I should probably be going!" Arthur looked up at him slightly quizzically, but then he just smiled warmly. That smile had Alfred's heart beating in a way he didn't want it to.

"W-Well, I'll talk to you later then," he replied simply, and with their short farewell, America swiftly made his way out the door, out of the hotel, into his SUV, and eventually back to his apartment. He finally smacked his head against the wall.


End file.
